The Columbus journal., 1887-12-21
At TALMAGE's TABERNACLE.

TO be C~ontinued.)
At TALMAGE'S TABERNACLE.
Interior ecorations-The Opening Prayer.
Tho Preacher and His Preaching.
The tabernacle has nothing imposing
about it. Next to Plymouth 1t is one OF
the homeliest church buildings in Brook
Ign from any external point of view.
Probably 5000 people were patiently
waiting for the iron gates to open on Sun
day morning. Some Of them must have
been in the street an hour, and when the
iron gates opened there was a rush for the
unreserved pews and they were quickly
filled. When the services commenced
every seat wa occupied. people were
sitting in some Of the a~isles, and the space
between the back pews and the wall was
packed with standing auditors.
l said something in a former letter
about the interior of the Tabernacle, but
its gold, silver, blue and green is seen ut u
double advantage from the balcony. Its
decorations would he appropriate for any
pleasant theatre or hall. Two or three
people in the balcony, one Of them a lady,
became so impressed with the secular
characteristics of the place that they pro-
ceeded to study morning papers. But
usherS made a descent upon them and the
papers were pOcketed again. Somebody
tainted and there was a slight cOmmOtiOn,
a half dozen reporters and stenOgraphers
filed down an aisle to the space before the
pulpit and a company Of cadets marched
in as the great organ belched out the first
heavy chords of the opening voluntary.
Then everybody standing sang Praise
God from whom all blessings flow" and
the pastor made the opening prayer stand
ing, Willie the congregation sat. l am
thus definite because there are scores of
Presbyterian churches that would pro-
badly consider the sitting posture, as q
practice, ~disrespectful in the extreme.
Only two years ago | recall an incident in
Il western New York town in which the
minister told his hearers it would be bet
ter fer them to stay at home thar thus to
show their weak spiritual condition to the
world.
After the prayer the people, led by q
cOrnet player. accompanied the thunder of
the organ song, Hold the Fort" Several
thousand people is n great chorus when
everybody sings. Then We had a cornet
solo as the collection was taken.
l have told you before how the preacher
looks, but his preaching is indescribable.
/ am sorry that it is not like that Of any
body else, without any fear Of contradic-
ton. His methods are peculiar but not
fantastic, dramatic but not sensational, as
l think. Such differences of opinion exist
about this preacher, however, that l want
to try to express how most Of his auditors
regard him.
One Of the queer figures Of speech I
heard the other day at the Tabernacle was
from the pastor in speaking about the
self righteous grinding away at the
windlass Of the dry we'll Of earthly salts
faction" One of the things heard that
pleased everybody and didn't seem to do
any harm was "BOulanger's March,"
with the use of h great organs bell stop
in the second strain, played just before
the sermon.
A free thinking friend Of mine from
Ca%ttaraugus county attended this opening
service with me. II tell you," said he,
IF ! lived here I'd never miss that ser
vice" Yet, he said he hadn't been inside
a church for five years. He was enter
tanned, heard a sermon that saint or sir
ner alone could find meat in without
wearisOme encounters with doctrinal mat
tiers, and, since they say anything heard
VI cSSh AAc Ola AhAAoSAASSs y "So
influenced for good rather than evil, l am
sure.
BY the way, Mr.. Talmage told me n
day that he asked no greater recognition
for what he had lone than the inscription
on his tombstone, '"Talmage, a Popular
Preacher. '-McDOnald in Buffalo Ex-
press.
Gold Mining in North Carolina.
North Carolina is still one of the gold
producing states Of the Union, averaging
something less than a couple of hundred
thousand dollars annually. Georgia, which
turns out somewhat less than North Caro-
lima, is also a gold state. Before the exc
dus to California these were the chief gold
producers of the Union, Virginia, Alabama
and South Carolina also contributing
something to the stock Of precious metals,
but in the presence of the rich mines Of
the west the gold states Of the Atlantic
coast lost all their importance. Neverthe-
less mining operations are carried on to
some extent in the Blue Ridge and its foot
hills. The San Christian mine, in Mont
gOmery county, n. c., was recently
sold for $780, OO. There is considerable
free gold in the gravel along the noun
tain streams, and it is said that in years
when the streams are dried up or dimin-
ished by drought and the agricultural
crops fail, the people there turn to the
gold crop. In Ophir and FL Dorado towli-
ships every %inhabitant engages in this
practice, and ut the smallest country store
will he found scales for weighing gold
dust. People can do thissimple placer min
ing in this primitive way on land owned
by others, paying a fifth OF the gold found.
That is the rule in such cases. This sort
of mining is known as petty mining.
Small business as it is it has in many bad
seasons saved the people from want.
A North Carolina correspondent OF The
Richmond VA Dispatch reports: The
deepest gold mine in the state is the Gold
hill, in Rowan county, which is down TO
the great mine of this part of the world,
and has a record of over 50, OOO, 900. In
those early days the most primitive appli-
ances were used in getting out the ore.
There were five owners, n the weeks
work-the net prom-was represented in
a great bar of bullion. This was cut with
ak into five pieces. Some disinteres.ed
party then placed the pieces behind him
and, holding n in his hand, cried out:
'.Who takes this.' 1t was given the
owner who called for it, and 50 on, until
all five pieces were divided. Sometimes
each share was worth $1,000, making q
yield of say $40, GOO annually. English
men have for years owned this mine,
companies having held it and
operated it. Another $10O,000 is now
being raised to work further.-New Or
leans Picayune.
A Temple In japan.
Starting early one morning from the
Yaami hotel, KoOis, q delightful place
the whole city, l direct my
jinriksha boy to take me to the temple of
Kenninji. Let the description Of the gen
eral features of this femnla sufica for all.